It took months to rebuild everything that was lost in the battle; Detroit, Gotham, and New York faced the brunt of the attack. Their streets were shrouded in thick layers of smoke and debris. People died. Hundreds of them, but only one death haunted Harper's waking hours. The mother of a brown-eyed girl - crushed beneath the weight of a clone's armour.

Despite her constant denial, Harper kept herself updated with news about this child, who she later discovered was named 'Lara'. She had been thrown into the foster system but never seemed to find a perfect fit. She was moved around constantly, no one was ever quite able to understand her. She was a solitary child with a sharp mind, but a destructive streak. Anger consumed Lara in a way that aged her terribly and diminished any chance of finding an adoptive family. She fought with the other kids and disappeared for days on end, trying to run back towards a haven that could no longer harbour her.

As time dragged on, Harper could no longer tolerate the guilt that encased her. She applied to adopt a child. More specifically, a troubled girl that needed some stability. She didn't tell Victor...it wasn't his decision. At least, not in Harper's mind. Lara was her responsibility and she planned on spending the rest of her life trying to fix what she had broken. Victor didn't need to be a part of it if he wasn't comfortable, but that was a problem to face after she had actually been approved to adopt a child.

It was a terribly difficult process. Many felt that her position on the Justice League was not a safe or stable enough environment for a child. Nor did they think that Harper herself was an ideal candidate. She was single, lived in a space station (The Watchtower), and given the most recent attack by an army of her clones, she wasn't exactly in a positive with the American public, or the world for that matter. Though Harper was persistent, the tipping point came when she declared that she wanted to adopt Lara and would not settle for any other child. Between her violent outbursts, expensive medical bills, and constant running away, the adoption agency was completely out of options (and foster homes). Ultimately, it was decided that she would find it quite difficult to escape a space station and so running away would be removed from Lara's options. That, along with a thorough look into her files and mental health, was enough to get Harper's application approved.

Now here she was, waiting in a quiet room with her wheelchair tucked carefully beneath a large oaken desk. There was a woman sitting in front of her, sifting through the pile of signed documents and photo ID's that Harper had brought with her. She had maple-brown hair pinned in a neatly controlled bun. Her slim form was clad in a severely unadorned dress of forest green that verged upon black. "Well, everything seems to be in order."

There was a huff of disapproval from the far right corner, where Lara sat with her arms crossed and muddy eyes kicking up a storm. This was their first 'official' meeting, but neither of them had spoken a single word to the other. It was preferred that the adoptee and adopter have several encounters before making it official, but Harper avoided that idea entirely. She liked to tell herself that it was because she was too busy, but in reality she was simply afraid that the child would recognise her outside of that giant suit. She didn't, of course, but that still didn't prevent her immediate dislike of Harper.

"Before we finalise the small details, I just need to confirm that you are aware of this particular child's needs, and more importantly, confirm that your circumstances haven't changed - that you're still capable of providing for her." The woman's grey eyes flicked up from the paper, staring at the scratches and bruises littering Harper's face.

"Yep. All good to go on my end." Harper replied quickly, almost dismissing the warning in the woman's tone.

"Well... I'll just run through the requirements one last time, just to ensure that you are fully aware of the responsibility you will be taking on." She looked skeptical, but was also aware that it was a miracle that anyone was willing to take Lara away at all. She has caused more trouble than any youth before her, and at her age, that was an accomplishment. "Lara has 'escaped' multiple foster homes in the past, sometimes disappearing for weeks on end."

"Yeah, that's fine. She might find it a little harder running away from a space station."

The agency employee grimaced. "Right, yes, well I am quite curious about what you plan on doing for her schooling if she is to stay in orbit with you."

"I'll homeschool her for a year or two while she adjusts, and then we'll be moving somewhere...closer to the ground."

The employee raised a pencil-thin eyebrow and tapped her pen against the generous stack of papers. "And you are also aware that she has been quite violent with other kids, both her own age and older?"

"Yeah. Won't be a problem, I don't have any other kids."

She folded her hands on top of the documents, bright pink fingernails glittering under the light. Now Harper could see the sharp edge of a name tag under her jacket. It started with an 'M', but the rest remained hidden. Harper could only assume that her name was something like 'Melanie'. Why? Well, she just looked like a Melanie."Mrs Reid-"

"It's Miss."

Melanie took another curious glance down at the papers and huffed. It was a lot harder to receive approval for adoption with single parents. It was becoming very clear that Harper had pulled a few strings in the agency and government. "Okay, Miss Reid. Lara is finding it difficult to accept her current situation. She's made it very clear to us that she would rather not get adopted at all. For her own benefit, we won't turn down any interested party, however I thought you should know that there may be other children a little more...grateful at the chance of a forever home."

"I understand, but I've made up my mind."

Melanie pursed her lips, but nodded respectfully. "That's good to hear. Now, just a few more things I have to verify with you. We are obliged to provide you with a detailed account of her personal needs, primarily her mental and physical ailments. It'll all be given to you in her folder but, to summarise, she's going to need constant care and monthly doctor appointments for the burns she sustained before arriving to us-"

"And therapists to help her deal, I know I've heard it all." Harper confirmed, coming across a little ruder than she may have originally intended. She has seen all the files so this only serves as a gruesome reminder of her own recklessness. Lara had not only shown early symptoms of PTSD, she had also sustained third degree burns to half of her body. Her face was relatively unscathed but her chest, back, and forearms were riddled with burns. Every day life simply wouldn't be the same for her anymore, even having a bath would be a hassle; the water couldn't be too warm or it would tighten the injured tissue, so her future seemed to hinge on baths that were just a little too cold. Of course, that was probably the least of her concerns.

Apparently Melanie was eager to have a few moments away from Harper, because within seconds she had stood up, back exaggeratingly straight, and declared that she had left the final forms in need of Harper's signature in the next room.

"It will give you two a chance to catch up." Melanie said, already stepping eagerly out of the door. Apparently she was unaware that this was their first meeting.

"You look like that scientist guy." Lara had said almost as soon as the employee had left. She looked like she was in a perpetual state of annoyance.

"You mean Stephen Hawking?" Harper smirked, gesturing towards the wheelchair.

The girl shrugged. She had clearly meant it as an insult and had given no thought to the fact that this paralysed cosmologist would actually have a name. "I dunno. It makes you look dumb."

Now, Harper was a firm believer in only dishing out what you can take. Meaning, if you're going to punch someone, make sure not to cry when you get punched back. This was one of the first things Victor had learnt about Harper, and Lara was no exception. "Well you look like Freddy Krueger."

The girl's irritation faltered for a second and she tilted her head to the side. "Who's that?"

Harper reaches into her pocket and pulled out a very underused cellphone. There were no scratches, no dents, and minimal fingerprint marks on the screen. She pulled up an image of the Nightmare on Elm Street villain and directed the screen towards Lara.

There were a few seconds that passed in silence. Harper wasn't sure how to interpret the blankness in the girls expression. Then, with a quiet huff, the young rebel spoke. "He looks cool."

"I'll let you watch the movie he's in when we get home." Harper said with a small smirk. She might get along better with this kid than she originally thought. "But don't get scared. You're not sleeping in my bedroom I'd you do."

"I wouldn't want to anyway." The girl snapped back.

------------------

The hardest part was telling Victor. Harper had no idea what to say or how to say it, and this resulted in the very poor decision to just show up to the Watchtower with the kid. Cyborg's immediate assumption was that this was some child that another Justice League member had flown there for some unknown reason...but that wouldn't explain why she was walking so close to Harper's wheelchair.

Victor analysed the kid; everything from her scratched up nose to the bright red burns running up her arms. Her eyes were as brown as his own, but the pupils were flecked with gold like tiny beach pebbles. They widened at the sight of him...he knew that look all too well. Absolute terror.

"Who's this?" Victor asked, trying to sound as gentle as he possibly could. It was a little strange to see Harper Reid hanging around with a kid, but after the amount of time she'd been spending with Garfield, it was probably a welcome upgrade.

"Lara." Harper answered, quickly noticing that the kid had lunged even closer to her - now gripping the right armrest of her chair. "I adopted her this morning."

Now it was Victor's turn to be terrified. It looked, for a moment, like his whole body had come to a standstill. He remained completely motionless for several seconds, struggling to compute Harper's words. "You...what?"

Sensing his obvious unease, Harper glanced at Lara and saw that her gaze was still stuck on the cyborg. "Why don't you go take a look around, Lara?"

The girl, though still uncertain, looked grateful for the opportunity to leave. She pried her fingers off the armrest and hurried out of the room; glancing over her shoulder at Victor like she was the future victim in a horror movie.

"You heard me, Victor." Harper said nonchalantly. "She's my daughter now."

Victor still seemed to be tangled within the tight fibres of shock, his voice wasn't working the way it should. "Why didn't you-"

"Why didn't I tell you? Because it wasn't your problem." Harper could see the anger starting to flare in Victor's eyes, and urged herself to elaborate. "Her mother died because a decision I made. Maybe she's not the first to suffer because of me, maybe she won't be the last, all I know is that I have a responsibility to her. I'm not mother material, but a home is better than none. I need to take care of her. I didn't tell you because nothing you said would have changed my mind. This is my decision, but you don't have to be a part of it."

Victor fell silent. He didn't know what to think. The possibility of having kids had been taken from him after the accident that tore his body apart, and he'd never even considered adoption. He didn't want to put any child in a situation that scared them, and he knew that his appearance could be horrifying. He was angry...but he understood Harper's choice. She was giving him two options, stay and help her parent this child or leave without guilt. It wasn't fair, in his mind, because she had to know he wouldn't even consider the second option. "Harp...you saw the way she looked at me."

"Her mother was crushed by a suit similar to mine, the memories still fresh."

"You're saying I look like your suit?" Victor sneered.

"No, of course not, but to someone that young it all blends together. She just needs time to adjust."

Adjusting. It sounded so simple when she said it, but Victor had first-hand experience with it. Sometimes you couldn't just 'adjust'. Sometimes you woke up in the middle of the night screaming...feeling your arms being ripped from your skeleton, and hearing your mother's cries. Sometimes you forgot that you were a machine until you looked in the mirror. Victor knew that time didn't always help, but having the right support system couldn't hurt. Just like Harper felt like she needed to stay with this kid, Victor knew that he had to be there for them both.

Victor reached down for Harper's hand and savoured the warmth of her skin against the cold metal of his own. He tried to swallow his fear, at least for now, and felt a slight smile twitch onto his lips. "Speaking as her father then, do you really think it was wise to give her free reign of the Watchtower?"

Harper smiled back at him with the slightest hint of gratitude. "Yeah, she'll be right. If she touches something important I'm sure that we'll hear about it before the world explodes."

Luckily enough, Lara hadn't made it far enough to cause any mischief. She had been stopped in the hallway by Shazam, still decked out in his red suit and totally not a kid. He was telling her, rather childishly, to respect her elders - Harper got the feeling that he was actually enjoying being older than someone in there.

Harper hadn't ever envisioned herself as a mother, but she determined to be everything that she would have wanted from The Progenitor...acceptance and pride. She wanted to prepare her for the dangers that being her daughter would bring...but she never could have imagined Lara having to endure the apocalypse without them. She would, though. Lara was destined to lose, not just one mother, but two.

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Author's Note: What's this? I finally finished Inhuman!! Thanks so much to those of you that stuck with me for so long! I actually never thought this day would come 😭 Next in the series is Mortal (Batman) for those that are following the whole DC line and I'm stoked to be working on it again!